My family of five will be visiting NYC at the end of this month. We plan on visiting the Statue of Liberty. Would it be significantly less expensive to stay overnight in NJ? If so, where is good? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hotels in NJ would be less expensive. If you decide to stay in New Jersey then you would go to the Statue from Liberty Park in NJ.

Yes, hotels in NJ would be cheaper. But while you save money, you lose the whole appeal and flavor of staying in Manhattan!

I'll second xxx's sentiments. It's worth the extra money to stay in the city. That's part of the experience.

A decent budget type chain hotel in NJ in a safe location (e.g. Secaucus) will likely run $90-130 per night. You can probably find something in NYC for close to that. Factor in the $5 per person round trip on the bus into the city and it negates the cost of parking your car in the city (secure parking should be available for $20-25 per day including taxes). If you've ever shlepped upstairs through the Port Authority bus station late at night after a day of walking and exploring, then waited 20-30 minutes for the bus... you'd want to stay in NYC. I have tried staying in NJ and traveling in (prior to moving to the NYC area) - I would not recommend it to anyone.

Not significantly. But if your only purpose is visiting the Statue then NJ is much more convenient and nearby hotels would be much cheaper.

I agree with others on why it should not be done- however, many hotels in NJ offer rates $70-100 range. If you find one near the NJ Transit Midtown Direct communter rail line then you can have an easier way to go in/out of the city. smarterliving.com often has great specials for fine nj hotels, for example.

Getting to/from the city is a considerable PITA so if you can stay in the city, do so. Often, Marriott's Wall St. area property has very low rates [$129 specials often posted] (it isn't near the action of Times Sq, though)